Wachusett Works

Alec Callender Afternoon news anchor, WTAG

Alec Callender at the microphone in the WTAG studio. Joyce Roberts photo. This week, The Landmark introduces a feature that will appear periodically in these pages called Wachusett Works, focusing on local folks and the jobs they do. First out of the box is Alec Callender of Rutland, the afternoon news anchor at radio station WTAG.

What did you do before you got into radio?

I was in the real estate business, marketing properties out-of-state and basically selling advertising, with a company based in Oxford.

A few years ago the owner closed the company and opened a new business in medical billing for physicians. I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t for me, and after a lot of discussions with my wife, she encouraged me to do what I wanted to do instead of just getting up and going to work and paying the bills.

I always thought a career in radio would be fun, and that I’d be good at it. But I was in my mid-30s with a family, and so it took me six months to even be able to talk about the idea of switching careers. The thought of leaving my job was a daunting prospect. But when I did, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement of my wife.

How did you learn the trade?

I went to Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Wellesley Hills. I believe I was the oldest person in my class by at least 10 or 15 years. These kids were in their early 20s and they all wanted to be the next Howard Stern. When I talked about having a wife and kids and a mortgage, they looked at me like they had no idea what I was saying.

The program was two nights a week November to March, and on top of that, we had to do required studio time. But my internship was every bit as valuable as what I learned at school, if not more, because of the real-life, applicable experience I got.

My first big story with WTAG was a fire in Worcester. The news anchor at the time was at a press conference, so I grabbed the keys to the WTAG van and a microphone and drove down to the site. I interviewed some people from the Red Cross and the fire chief, and put the story together.

It’s a very, very competitive field. Once when we had a full-time opening, we got applications from all over New England and all over the country.

Describe your job progression.

I started out as an intern on the Sunday morning shift. I was still in broadcasting school at the time. I did that for a while, then became the full-time mid-day anchor. Now do the afternoon weekday shift.

What should Landmark readers know about Behind the Headlines?

“Behind the Headlines” airs weekdays during the 3 to 4 p.m. news hour. We take a look at a story or several stories that we wouldn’t have gotten into very much. So newspapers and radio combine their abilities to reach people, to make the total greater than the sum of our parts. It’s an attempt at covering the outskirts of the county.

We get different aspects of stories, too. WTAG reported on the death of that little boy in Lunenburg after the dog attacked him, but we didn’t get into why the boy’s parents don’t blame the dog owners. But The Fitchburg Sentinel did discuss that, and the editor was able to share that angle over the radio.

A big portion of our listeners are from the Wachusett area. Last week I interviewed Jim Keogh about “Brian’s Story,” and that prompted two people to ask me for the tapes of our conversation. They were moved, and they wanted to have those tapes because the story meant a lot to them. I’ve got to believe that even more people who don’t get the Landmark went out and bought a copy of that issue, just for that story.

Other editors and reporters on Behind the Headlines represent Worcester Magazine, the Villager (from the Thompson Conn. area) and The Gardner News.

On your job, what do you look forward to the most?

I work with a great bunch of people. My coworkers are just awesome. But I love the people I get to meet and talk to, whether it’s the mayor of Worcester, state senators or representatives, Harriette Chandler, or Sheila Frias, the principal of Wachusett. I love being able to come home at the end of the day and say to my family, ‘You wouldn’t believe who I talked to today.’ That is really kind of cool.

What advice would you give someone who wants to break into radio?

You want to make sure you do your very best work and let listeners know exactly what’s going on. There is some pressure there, and many listeners are relying on us to get their news.

What radio stations do you listen to?

I’m a big sports fan, so I listen to WEEI and 96.9, which is talk radio.

How long have you lived in Rutland?

Only seven years, so I’m still a newcomer. But I married a real townie, Melissa Campbell. We have two kids, six-year-old CJ and four-year-old Maggie. My mother-inlaw, Barbara Campbell, was a teacher at Naquag for 40 years. She and my father-inlaw Charlie are big Landmark readers, so they’ll be excited to see something about their son-in-law in there.